Saturday
Visited Ilocos Sur and La Union today. The first on the Green Revolution of Imelda, the second at 6:30 PM on the projects in the barrios.
Tree planting and meeting with the people of Sto. Domingo and greeting the people of the other towns from the car.
Started late (at 10:30 AM) because of the conferences with the leaders specially Congs. [Roque] Ablan [Jr.] and [Simeon] Valdez, Delegate [Antonio] Raquiza, Ex. Gov. and now Com. [Jose] Evangelista, Ex. Vice Gov. and now Chairman [Constante] Fariñas. The idea was to impress them with the gravity to me of the gubernatorial fight in the province. “It means political survival to me.” And that we must treat it dispassionately. There must be no split in the group. A split will not be forgiven.
They, specially Cong. [Roque] Ablan [Jr.], seems to have gotten the message. He promised “he would talk to his mother” before he brought her to Malacañang.
“I am not the candidate, nor are the senatorial candidates—the true candidates is the ideal—the Reform Movement and Democracy. This is the beggar for your votes. This is the supplicant for your support.”
“In 1969 I ran on a Reform Platform—Land Reform, Tax Reform, Electoral Reform, Government Reorganization, equal and forceful application of the Labor laws, Rural Improvement, the battle against corruption etc.
“I ran on the platform of anti-communism and on the organization or the BSDU’s [Barrio Self-Defense Units] in Central Luzon.
“All of these have been blocked by the oligarchs and the communists or sympathizers of the communists.”
This is the presentation of the issue in the coming elections that I developed in San Fernando, La Union.
Incidentally, I touched my anting-anting to ask the rain to stop and it stopped!
10:00 PM July 25, 1971[1]
Sunday
We have just come from Pangasinan, taken dinner and heard mass said by Father de Vera of Camp Crame, PC [Philippine Constabulary].
We were still at La Union (Agoo) up to 10:20 AM, having started from Cataluaan, the beach house at Poro Point at about 8:50 and arrived at Agoo at 9:30 AM. At Agoo the old tower was converted by Cong. Jose Aspiras into the Santuario de Sta. Maria and the town plaza has become a pretty “Imelda Garden.”
So we reached Lingayen at 11:30 AM, finished my speech at 1:00 AM [sic], had lunch at the Urduja, the Governor’s official residence and I was conferring with the municipal mayors and chairman at 2:00 PM—up to 2:40 PM.
We were at Carmen, Villasis at 4:00 PM, had merienda of fried suman and chocolate. We left at 4:30 PM and arrived in Manila in the driving rain at 7:30 PM.
Although I slept part of the way, I could see that the road was well kept except Bauang to Aringay, Bulacan from Calumpit to the North Diversion Road, which needs black-topping (thick asphalt layer).
We were compelled to go overland because of the inclement weather, typhoon Sisang having hit the Batanes.
And although we had the three helicopters (one Sikorsky and two Hueys) we could not go to the Hundred Islands because of the gusty wind and the rain.
In the conference of the mayors and chairmen, it was agreed that I would decide the matter. I practically announced that Gov. [Cipriano] Primicias [Jr.] will be a candidate for the Senate, the Vice Governor would become governor, appointed to my office as an assistant to aspire for congressman in 1973 for the position left by Cong. [Aguedo] Agbayani who would become the candidate for governor.
In Carmen, Villasis, we had merienda at the house of Ex. Gov. Conrado Estrella, now Land Administrator, which [whose] house looks too luxurious for one leading the Land Reform Movement. He is suspected to be getting a cut in the purchase of land.
We have been received very affectionately and enthusiastically everywhere. If this is true everywhere else, then the Liberals have no chance in the coming elections.
I have already said that if the Liberals receive 20% of the votes, they will be lucky. They have no candidates in 28 provinces out of 65 and 1000 municipalities out of 1,400.
But we have to attend to the rice problem. In Pangasinan, two men cried out, “Mahal ang bigas.” So I have ordered 200,000 tons more of rice to be imported in addition to the 110,000 already imported. We are now selling 9,000 sacks of rice a day and by Wednesday three times this. So our 110,000 tons would last only up to August if this rate of buying continues. The need for more rice is obvious.
The streets of Manila are worse than the national highways we passed through. So I have to act on the charges against Mayor Villegas and the councilors.
This is the first time we have travelled by car from Ilocos Norte to Manila since I became President in 1965.
And the memories of all the trips Imelda and I had along that 500 kilometer road, some of them pleasant, like the first time I brought her home to Batac in 1954 when I showed her the beautiful scenes along the way, and some of them funny like when Kokoy [Benjamin Romualdez] had to drive at night without headlights, staying close to our car (behind it), or tenderly hard as when she had to carry one of the children in her lap throughout the trip because he (I think it was Bongbong) was still a baby and a heavy one.
[1] Official Gazette for July 25, 1971: P resident Marcos returned to Manila early in the evening from a three-day swing through the Ilocos provinces where he rallied the people’s support behind the cause of democracy. In speeches delivered in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan, the President declared that the people would be made to choose between democracy and communism in the forthcoming local elections. “I have come here to warn you that the threat of a bloody revolution to overthrow the democratic government is real and imminent,” the President said in his conferences with provincial, municipal and barrio officials. “The people should decide now whether they would unite behind their democratic institutions before it is too late.” Accompanied by the First Lady, Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, and children Imee, Bongbong- and Irene, the President left Poro Point in the morning for Lingayen, Pangasinan where a huge rally was held at the local stadium. Welcoming the presidential party in the province were local leaders from the 48 towns of Pangasinan, both Nacionalistas and Liberals. After discussing, the status of community improvement projects and other local problems with provincial, municipal and barrio officials in a conference held at the provincial capitol, the President motored to Manila, arriving in Malacañang early in the evening.